The Government does not have any plans to hold a referendum to try to overturn the Supreme Court ruling on statutory rape, despite signals of support from Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will this week encourage the Opposition to join an all-party group to examine the wider issues raised by the Supreme Court decision.
Two weeks ago it ruled that people facing such offences must be able to plead that they did not know the ages of the boy, or girl, which would mean that alleged victims would have to be fully cross-examined. Up to last week, the State tended to charge alleged perpetrators with statutory rape, since this meant it had to prove only that the alleged victim was underage and that sex had taken place.
Clearly bruised by the controversy, the Taoiseach spent the weekend in discussions with Attorney General Rory Brady, other Ministers and senior officials.
However, both Fine Gael and Labour have insisted a full investigation of the Attorney General's office must take place, along with all-party committee hearings to examine the need for other legislation.
So far, the Government is prepared only to allow a senior Department of Finance official examine the operation of systems that were created in the Attorney General's office after the Fr Brendan Smyth crisis in 1994.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Pat Rabbitte will both push strongly for a full, independent inquiry into the Attorney General's office when the Dáil resumes on Wednesday.
Dermot Ahern has said a referendum to restrict the rights of the accused in underage sex cases is "something that could flow" from an all-party committee investigation. He believed there was "a mood" within the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party to return the law to where it was before the Supreme Court judgment - to where an accused could not claim they had made an honest mistake.
The Government had not changed the law before the Supreme Court struck it down "because it did not want to do so, because it was a very strict law there to ensure that paedophiles did not get any excuse", he said.
Despite Dermot Ahern's remarks, there is almost no possibility of a referendum taking place before the next general election - particularly given the State's poor history in dealing with sexual issues constitutionally.
Last night, senior Government sources acknowledged that the priority was to get the Opposition to take part in an all-party committee to examine the age of consent and society's attitudes to underage sex.
Dermot Ahern's support for a referendum was criticised as "an irrelevant distraction" by Mr Rabbitte last night, who said Mr Ahern was "clearly kite-flying".
"He is seeking to distract attention both from the hopelessly inadequate initial Government response to this issue and from the serious flaws we have highlighted in the Government's eventual legislation. These flaws were not foisted on the Government by anything in the Supreme Court decision. They are of the Government's own making," Mr Rabbitte said.
He added: "We need a credible independent inquiry into the handling of this case. We need accountability as to who knew what and when. And, if they did not know in time, we need to know why not.
"Second, we need a proper review of the law on sexual activities involving young people. Those laws must provide a comprehensive protection for children against the disgusting and vile predations of sexual abusers."
